New findings suggest people born through assisted reproduction techniques (ART) may have higher risk of arterial hypertension in early adulthood.

Researchers assessed vascular function and performed 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM) in 54 participants conceived through ART and 43 age- and sex-matched controls. The study participants had been studied five years previously, with that research showing that ART-conceived children displayed premature vascular aging.

The present study found that premature vascular aging persisted in ART-conceived subjects without any detectable classical cardiovascular risk factor and progresses to arterial hypertension. ABPM values and BP variability were markedly higher in ART-conceived subjects than in control subjects. Eight of the 52 ART participants, but only one of the 43 control participants fulfilled ABPM criteria for arterial hypertension (>130/80 mm Hg and/or >95th percentile).

“The increased prevalence of arterial hypertension in ART participants is what is most concerning,” said lead author Dr Emrush Rexhaj from the University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland. “This is a rapidly growing population and apparently healthy children are showing serious signs of concern for early cardiovascular risk, especially when it comes to arterial hypertension," Rexhaj added.

The research is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.